Fox News staffers thought Newsmax was a joke. But they're not laughing anymore

New York (CNN Business) Fox News is taking action to stave off newfound competition from Newsmax TV.

Producers on some Fox programs have been told to monitor Newsmax's guest bookings and throw some sand in Newsmax's gears by encouraging guests who appear on both channels to stop saying yes to the upstart.

According to Fox sources, producers were told to avoid some regular guests if they kept showing up on Newsmax after being encouraged to stop. Management's goal: to remind guests who's boss in the right-wing media world.

And Fox News is still boss, with five times the audience of Newsmax at any given time of day. A Fox spokesperson said there was no directive about guest bookings.

But it's clear that Fox is feeling pressure from the right like never before. Fox hosts and producers are on edge about the ratings race, a number of staffers told CNN Business. The staffers also said that the competitive dynamic is having an impact on some of Fox's programming choices.... (Read more)

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